Thursday, May 21, 2015

Hard-Left Center For American Progress Joins GOP Calls to Eliminate ATF



Hard-Left Center For American Progress Joins GOP Calls to Eliminate ATF
by AWR Hawkins 21 May 2015
On May 19 the Center for American Progress (CAP) joined GOP calls to do away with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and the shuffle the agency’s current responsibilities to other federal agencies.

On March 6–during the ATF-led push to ban the M855 round from AR-15 use–Breitbart News reported on Representative Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) 84%’s (R-WI) push to do away with the ATF altogether. Sensenbrenner put forward the “ATF Elimination Act,” describing the agency as one that is “largely duplicative” in its operations.

Sensenbrenner stressed that the FBI and DEA could do the things the ATF does, and save gun owners the pressure they face from a highly politicized agency like the ATF.

CAP is taking the same position but for different reasons. Whereas Sensenbrenner is worried the politicized ATF has gotten too strong–as the attempted AR-15 ammo ban indicated–CAP believes the ATF has become impotent, its hands tied by the successes of the gun rights movement.


ATF has faced some serious challenges in its efforts to be the federal agency charged with enforcing the nation’s gun laws, combating gun crime, and regulating the firearms industry. This report seeks to offer recommendations for how to improve federal enforcement and regulation of guns that recognize and build on the formidable assets that ATF already has—but it does so while recognizing that the status quo is not enough. Although ATF has had many successes, its capabilities are inadequate in relation to the scope of the gun crime challenge in the United States. Therefore, this report does not focus on a series of piecemeal recommendations to improve ATF’s current operations. Prior evaluations, including ones written by authors of this report, make such recommendations; some of them have been acted upon, and others would certainly offer substantial benefits to the functionality and success of the agency. But this report finds that something bigger needs to happen to address the challenges that ATF faces.

The CAP report then moves to address a reality similar to that outlined by Rep. Sensenbrenner; a reality in which the job being done by the ATF can realistically be transitioned to other agencies:

[This reality] begins with a recognition that the United States already has the world’s premiere national law enforcement agency: the FBI. This report concludes that ATF, both its personnel and its mission responsibilities, should be merged into the FBI. The FBI—bolstered by the agents, expertise, and resources of a subsumed ATF—should take over primary jurisdiction of federal firearms enforcement.

Center for American Progress (CAP)
Center for American Progress calls for heightened gun safety.

Note: Morton H. Halperin was a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a director at the Constitution Project, and is a senior adviser for the Open Society Foundations.
Asa Hutchinson is a director at the Constitution Project, and was a director at the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Center for American Progress (CAP).
George Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, and was a supporter for the Center for American Progress (CAP).
Melody C. Barnes was the EVP for the Center for American Progress (CAP), a domestic policy council, director for the Barack Obama administration, a principal for the Raben Group, and is Barack Obama’s golf partner.
Barack Obama administration pledges improved gun safety.
Raben Group is the lobby firm for Mayors Against Illegal Guns.
Mayors Against Illegal Guns is a gun safety group.
Michael R. Bloomberg is a co-chair for Mayors Against Illegal Guns, was a contributor for the Americans for Responsible Solutions, and was a benefactor for the Harlem Children's Zone.
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Harlem Children's Zone, and the Center for American Progress (CAP).
George Soros was a benefactor for the Harlem Children's Zone, the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, a supporter for the Center for American Progress (CAP), a contributor for Priorities USA Action, is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, a director at the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), and a co-chair, national finance council for the Ready PAC (Ready For Hillary).
Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Center for American Progress (CAP), and the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
DPA Blasts Gun Discrimination Against Marijuana Patients
By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ in Medical, News          
Thursday, October 6, 2011 at 2:20 pm
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Says Medical Marijuana Patients Are Prohibited From Owning Guns
Last month the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives sent a letter to gun sellers saying it is illegal for medical marijuana patients to own firearms.
"Any person who uses or is addicted to marijuana, regardless of whether his or her state has passed legislation authorizing marijuana use for medicinal purposes, is prohibited by Federal law from possessing firearms or ammunition," says the letter from Assistant Director Arthur Herbert.
"ATF's blatant discrimination against Americans who use marijuana legally under state law is outrageous," said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA).
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force.
Amber A. Mostyn is a national finance council member for the Ready PAC (Ready For Hillary), a shareholder in the Mostyn Law Firm, and married to J. Steve Mostyn.
J. Steve Mostyn is married to Amber A. Mostyn, a national finance council member for the Ready PAC (Ready For Hillary), the founder of the Mostyn Law Firm, and was a   contributor for Priorities USA Action.
Mostyn Law Firm was a contributor for the Americans for Responsible Solutions.
Priorities USA Action was a super PAC supporting the 2012 Barack Obama presidential campaign, and is supporting the 2016 Hillary Rodham Clinton presidential campaign.
Hillary Rodham Clinton is the candidate for the 2016 Hillary Rodham Clinton presidential campaign, and was a director at the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
Soros Foundation was a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.




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